One big question we always are asked: “How do you decide if we need a therapeutic boarding school or a residential treatment center?“

1. What is the difference between a therapeutic boarding school (TBS) and residential treatment center (RTC) and what does my teen need?

The short answer is it depends on the state and how the state licenses residential programming.  There is no national standard and each of our fifty states have the responsibility to set their own licensure requirements for private-pay residential programming; many states divide up the enforcement between numerous governmental departments and some states do not even regulate private-pay residential care.

The scope and specifics of state regulations vary greatly, and some states do not require independent licensure at all.  Therefore, parents must do their diligence when researching residential placement – knowing that the program does have state licensing is important.

What these programs all have in common is that they are all addressing physical, emotional, behavioral, familial, social, and intellectual/academic development; it is how that is addressed which differentiates between the TBS or RTC.

RTC’s typically have more clinical care than a TBS, however we have also seen emotional growth programs that have a strong clinical foundation. We suggest you interview the program/school that you believe best fits your teen’s emotional needs, which includes their enrichment therapies such as animal, art, music therapy and more. It is important to find a setting that will stimulate your child in a positive direction.

More Tips to Untangle the Troubled Teen Industry Terminology

2. “My teen needs a Military school to teach them a lesson!” WRONG.

Military schools are a privilege and honor to attend, they are not for defiant, drug-using, depressed, or other behavioral issues students.

They do not provide mental health services – and if your teen is using drugs, drinking, or vaping now – by attending an open campus, it is likely s/he will consider the use again.

However, this time when he is caught (typically three strike you are out) and the parents will forfeit their tuition. This is the same for any of the behavioral issues they are asked to leave or expelled for – you will be risking your tuition as well as setting your child up for failure.

3. “My teen needs a wilderness program to appreciate what they have at home.” WRONG.

Wilderness programs are short-term programs will typically short-term results. It usually did not take 4-6 weeks to get to where you are right now, it will not take 4-6 (or 9 for that matter) to turn it around or have long-lasting behavioral results. Parents are usually guided (or misguided) into wilderness therapy by educational consultants that understand these programs come with step two.

Step two is moving on to a therapeutic boarding school (which you could have started with). We educate parents to find step one initially so your teen has consistency without program hopping. This not only helps your teenager from bouncing to therapists, staff, and environments – it can be most cost effective to the family.

Since 2001 we have consistently heard many misconceptions about wilderness programs – and parents need to separate fact from the myths.

Myths and Facts of Wilderness Therapy:

Myth: Many parents are led to believe that most quality residential programs will not accept a teen that has not completed a wilderness program. That simply is not true. 

Myth: Any teen that is using drugs needs to do a wilderness first. This is not true.

Myth: All teens do wilderness first, if not they will not succeed. Again, not true.

Fact: Wilderness programs are not necessary to enter a many therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers.

Fact: Wilderness programs are an expensive band-aid. They will cost a family from $450-800+ per day and the duration is about 4-9 weeks. The fact is — long lasting behavioral changes cannot take place in short-term programs. Therefore, most students that attend wilderness programs transition on to a residential boarding school.

There is likely a need for wilderness therapy for some students, but to state that all teens need wilderness prior to treatment or will not be successful without it — is simply untrue.

You will stumble on programs that will tell you they won’t accept a student unless they have attended a wilderness program first — in our opinion, it likely not the program for you. Most therapeutic boarding schools or residential treatment facilities (schools for troubled teens) are trained to care for behavioral issues — it is likely they are either a transitional program or part of a bigger concern in this industry — politics (number 5).

Some programs use wilderness as a last resort, if after 90 days in a therapeutic boarding school your teen is not settling down or has become extremely defiant and aggressive – they may then refer you to this type of program. It does not need to be your first step.

4. What is CARF and JCAHO accreditations? Are they necessary in choosing residential treatment?

CARF is Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities is an organization that oversees programs for behavioral health. If a program/school is CARF accredited, in some cases you may have a more insurance coverage. CARF accreditation can be considered a quality standard of care.

JCAHO is The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations which is the seal of approval for hospitals, and some residential treatment centers have acquired this accreditation. JCAHO is a higher level of care, although many residential treatment centers are not JCAHO accredited, they will adhere by their standards. Being JCAHO accredited will help your insurance coverage.

More and more therapeutic programs are becoming CARF accredited not only to provide more safety and oversight for their staff and students, but to offer more reimbursement for insurance claims.

JCAHO is typically found in higher level of care facilities, although some residential treatment centers have that extra level of accreditation.

Both these accreditations are important; however, they are not necessary. For years residential treatment has been operating without them and have been successful. These are voluntary accreditations.

5. What is NATSAP and IECA seals of approval that are some programs sites? 

NATSAP is the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs. This is a self-made organization that was reprimanded in a congressional hearing in 2007 for their lack of oversight of their members. Participating programs and schools pay a fee to be members to have their seal of approval on their sites.

More concerning is some parents are under the illusion that unless a program is NATSAP approved, it is not a quality program. That is simply not true. Not all schools and programs feel the need to be a member of this club, nor do they have to. Unlike CARF or JCAHO, it (NATSAP) does not offer much in benefits.

IECA are the Independent Educational Consultants of America, and their members are known as Educational Consultants that pay the fees to belong to this self-made organization. Like with NATSAP, they have their own circle of schools and programs they support and unlikely to consider those that do not want to participate (pay) to belong to private clubs.

There are many excellent schools and programs in our country today that have been around for decades that have never been involved in private organizations (clubs) and have succeeded on their reputation. It is important for parents not to be dissuaded by the politics of the troubled teen industry.

Also read:

Success in Therapeutic Boarding Schools

Finding Safe Therapeutic Schools

Goals of Therapeutic Boarding Schools

The post How To Decide What Type of Therapeutic School Our Teen Needs first appeared on Help Your Teens.

Have you reached a point where you feel like your entire family is being held hostage to your teen’s behavior — at any moment they could explode or do you fear for their own life or your families?

Is your teen:

–Addicted to their smartphone? Video-gaming?
–Entitlement, rude, defiant, disrespectful?
-Failing in school, but capable of passing?
-ADHD, OCD, RAD, Bipolar
-Teenager doing drugs? Vaping? Drinking?
–Sneaking-out? Running away?
–Withdrawn? Stays in their room?
-Refusing to go school? Skipping class?
-Suspended, facing expulsion?
-Depression, anxiety?
-Rage, anger, destructive?
–Negative peer group?

Whether you’re experiencing all or a few of these behavior patterns, you can feel like a hostage in your own home.  When parents start facing the reality that their once good teenager is making some bad choices that are getting worse, it can be extremely disheartening. There is no longer the “typical teenager” excuse.

No one ever wants to believe they will have to decide on a therapeutic boarding school for a troubled teen — especially their own teenager.  This is a major decision both emotionally and financially, and one not to be taken lightly. It is well after you have exhausted all your local resources. 

Usually the has teenager shutdown in therapy, the school setting wasn’t working, outpatient treatment failed and possibly a short-term hospital stay was unsuccessful, since it doesn’t provide long lasting behavioral changes.

Searching for boarding schools for troubled teens is not easy, on the contrary, as a consumer, you need to be an educated parent to sift through the sites and reviews and learn how to evaluate truth — from — fiction — from — opinion online. 

One simple online search for “boarding schools for troubled teens” yields over 1.5 million results!

What are the benefits of boarding schools for troubled teens?

5 Benefits of Therapeutic Boarding Schools for Teens

Boarding schools for troubled teens are designed to stop the negative behavior patterns of your teen and change the course to a positive and upward one.

1. Decompress.  Removing your teenager from their home environment, including their peers and especially their devices into a slowed down manageable pace, helps them to start focusing on themselves to improve their mental health. They are now in a setting with trained staff, activities (enrichment programs) and therapy that is designed to encourage change and build self-worth.

By decompressing and disconnecting from the negativity of their old lives (as well as their devices), it will give your teen an opportunity for the kind of true and deep change required to turn their life around.

2. Stability. A positive, safe, and consistent environment replaces the toxic environment they’re leaving. They won’t have access to drugs or alcohol – or their social media or devices.

The negative peer influences are now cut-off. If they have been struggling academically, often this new environment is where they will begin to thrive again – in many cases your teen will be able to catch up academically and some even surpass where they would be traditionally.

Once your teen gets on a healthy schedule, they will start feeling good about themselves and will bring this back home with them.

3. Calmness. In many situations, the teen is coming from a home where there was family discord and dysfunction. The destructive cycles (whether it was between parents or siblings) has now stopped and is deliberately slowed down to include mediated conversations, letter exchanges, and intermittent visits — as well are family workshops.

This completely changes the dynamic and stops parents and teens from engaging in the same ineffective communication patterns used before. It is as if a pause button is pushed and teens eventually are able to move away from their rigid perspectives and look at their relationships from a new and clear vantage point.

The truth is, no one enjoys living in a home that feels like a battleground. As both parties start experiencing this new calmness, the goal is to have it continue for the future — as everyone works together for the same purpose.

4. Enhances change. A quality therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens is designed to enhance likelihood and speed of change.   These schools help enable young people to look at their choices, their personal limitations, and the outcomes of the strategies they are using, and to recognize their own contributions to their problems and unhappiness.

The foundation of boarding schools are environments based on the creation of a safe, relationally warm place where the teen is protected from self-destructive behavior, unburdened from the stresses of life, and immersed in relational climate that invites introspection.

5. Family workshops. Parent education and involvement in the treatment process is priceless. It’s very easy to point the finger at the teenager but remember just sending your teen away and not addressing issues as a family won’t resolve anything if everyone isn’t on board.

Being involved in your teen’s program at home is imperative. From reading the books that are assigned to you, to making plans to attend the workshops — your teen needs to know you are dedicated to the school and your teen’s success in recovery and healing.

Parent workshops benefit the entire family. From helping you with communication skills with not only your troubled teen, but also with other family members, these workshops will also help you design and create house rules and consequences. 

We help you find safe therapeutic boarding schools.

Also read:

How Behavior Modification Helps Troubled Teens

Purpose of Therapeutic Boarding Schools

Are Therapeutic Boarding Schools Effective?

What is the Success Rate of Therapeutic Boarding Schools?

The post What Are the Benefits of Therapeutic Boarding Schools? first appeared on Help Your Teens.

After exhausting local resources, you find yourself online searching for schools for troubled teens and realize you have so many questions — there are 7 common questions parents typically ask about finding help through therapeutic boarding schools for troubled teens.

First you are bombarded with websites, marketing and new terminology that can be confusing and overwhelming especially when you are stressed out and exhausted by your teen’s behavior.

After decades of helping families that are searching for the right behavioral boarding school for their struggling teen or young adult, we complied the top 7 most frequestly asked questions and answers by parents.

7 Questions Parents Ask While Finding Help for Their Teen in Therapeutic Programs:

1. “Should our teen help us choose the therapeutic boarding program?”

Absolutely, positively not. Up until this point of their life, they have not been making the best choices, what would convince you that they would make the right one now?

Again, with decades of experience, parents have attempted to work with their teens in hopes they would be excited about a school or a program, getting a new start – or possibly the animals or sports that the program offers, however what happens next can be anything but excitement.

Your child will start doing their own research online, telling their friends, and realizing they will not be able to take their phones, talk to friends, they will be on a schedule and life will not be the rainbows and unicorns they have been used to. In some situations, they might even miss holidays or birthdays.

If your teen is a flight risk, you are giving them time to better map out their surroundings by telling them where they will be going – or even where you are considering sending them. It is never wise for a parent to threaten a child that they will be sent away, this only starts the program off with a sense of negativity.

It is the child’s behavior that has prompted you to make this decision, no parent simply wants to send a child to residential for no reason. Every parent has their child’s wellness in the forefront.

This is a time for parents to be the parents, make the adult decision for the child that needs help. If you are placing a young adult, it is different. At 18+ years old they do have to be willing to attend. In most of these young adults’ programs your child can speak with the director and other students and get a full understanding of the program. Some young adults know they need this extra boost.

2. “My teen won’t attend a program; how do we get him/her there?”

This is probably one of the most common questions parents ask and are concerned about. Assisted transport is how most parents have successfully and safely brought their teen to residential treatment.

It is especially important to choose qualified and credentialed professionals. The transport service should be licensed and insured to transport teens and have various degrees and/or background in education, psychology, behavioral science, mental health, or other related fields.

It is natural for parents to be apprehensive about this, however after speaking with other parents that have taken this road, you will realize that many of these teens ended up becoming friends with their transports and it is not the nightmare they are imagining. They may initially be angry, but deep down your teen understands they do need help.

3. “I fear my teen will hate me forever if I send them to a therapeutic boarding school.”

Again, another quite common concern of parents, especially parents of adopted children that fear that they will exasperate abandonment issues, is will their teen hate them forever if they are sent to a therapeutic boarding school?

Initially your teen may enter the program and not like you very much (it may feel like hate to you and them) but — they will grow from their fear and anger.

Your teen will likely fear the new situation and may also promise to “do better at home” however you know that you have already heard all these promises and spent a long time trying. It is time to be the adult, be the parent and do what is best for your child.

It is at this time that talking to other parents can be incredibly supportive for you — parents that have taken this journey before you, maybe from the same program you have selected for your teen.

As the program progresses, family therapy and workshops continue to reunite all of you and work through the conflict that tore you apart. Eventually your teen will be able to understand and have gratitude for this experience.

4. “My teen is very smart; will he/she fall behind academically?”

When these teens enter boarding schools for troubled teens, most of them were A, B students and are now underachieving or barely attending classes. Many parents were dealing with school refusal, the simple act of getting out of bed to attend school was impossible.

Therapeutic settings first and foremost get your teen back on track emotionally, but they will also be working on your teenager’s academics.

Now that your teen is in a structured and consistence environment, they become more focused and start feeling good about themselves, which helps them to improve academically – either to get caught up or surpass where they were at their school at home.

5. “Don’t these programs have bad kids; my child isn’t that bad?”

 If no one had troubled teens or young adults, there would not be any need residential treatment facilities. Most schools for troubled teens are enrolled with good kids that come from good families, possibly had a good foundation, however, took a wrong turn.

The increase of technology has not helped this generation, screen-addiction, social media – they are not only facing peer pressure at school, but it is also in the palm of their hands 24/7/365.

Doing your due diligence in researching boarding schools helps you to be sure you are placing your teen in the most appropriate setting. Your teen will be with kids like themselves – and their families are like you, begging for help to get their child back to happiness and a functioning adult.

6. Are these programs only for the wealthy people?

The sticker shock of places to send troubled teens can make some parents feel hopeless – however there are financial options, and we also discuss using your medical insurance as much as you are able to.

There are educational loans available for all people, like college loans, parents must qualify for them. Some parents will take a line-of-credit on their home if that is an option, and others may turn to relatives for a loan or gift monies.

There are resources through organizations like The United Way that has free programs, however the hurdle is the child usually needs to be willing to attend.

As far as scholarship programs, when you interview a program, you can ask they if they have any available. It would likely be a reduction in tuition rather than a scholarship. It never hurts to ask.

7. What happens when my child comes home (graduates the program)?

It is normal for parents to be worried about their teen coming home, however this journey has involved the entire family. During this time there has been trial runs with home visits, family therapy, a transitional home plan that has been prepared and discussed many times for everyone to fully understand. Another words, you are not alone in this process either.

Some core components of an aftercare plan:

1. Family engagement. It is imperative that family involvement does not stop because the program ended. Set-up a routine to regularly check-in with each other, such as breakfast, dinner or driving your teen to school or their activities. Stay interested and involved in their daily lives and especially their digital ones.

2. Therapeutic support. Before your teen leaves treatment, have a therapeutic support plan in place that is part of coming home. This can include a therapist, school counselor and if your child requires ongoing medication, possibly a psychiatrist. The first appointments should be arranged for when they get home. You may also want to consider a mentor or teen coach.

3. Back to school. Another particularly important part of the transitional plan is to determine your teen’s educational path. Will they go back to their same school or switch schools (if so, have you enrolled him/her already) or have you signed them up for virtual schooling? (Do not panic, these are all issues that are thoroughly discussed in your transitional home plan with the program therapist and staff that know your child’s needs) prior leaving the school.

4. Consistent structure. Helping your teen maintain a balanced and consistent daily schedule with their daily life — such as school and their activities is imperative. This includes sleep patterns, recreational hobbies (sports, dance, etc.), exercise, limited screen-time, jobs, social life, and other areas in life, will lead them to a healthier lifestyle at home.

5. Relapse plan. No one is perfect, there will be bumps, but the positive side is the likely will not be as bad as it was before. Your teen has learned coping skills (and so has the parents), it is likely they will be angrier at themselves for slipping up. Be prepared by having your boundaries and consequences outlined in your home plan. If drugs or alcohol were involved prior your teen’s treatment, create a plan to avoid the people, places and moods that accompany the substance use. 

Bonus tip: Most of these teens entered treatment with the love of their cellphone or video gaming. During the transitional plan, it is time to create your technology agreement for the entire family.

Also read:

Read: How to Interview Schools for Troubled Teens.

Read: 5 Benefits to a Therapeutic Boarding School.

Read: What Is a Christian Therapeutic Boarding School?

Read: What Is the Cost of Therapeutic Boarding Schools?

The post How to Find Help for My Troubled Teen first appeared on Help Your Teens.